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What is the difference between these two words? My teacher has listed a few
examples of each:

紙の裏{うら} • ビルの裏 • 裏ゲート

後ろの席 • Aさんの後ろ

My hypothesis is that 裏 refers to a surface (such as paper, building) while 後ろ
refers to the three-dimensional space behind an object (such as seats in a
theatre, space behind a person) **Is this accurate?**

After trying to read an answer on a Japanese forum, I found myself more
confused; 車の裏 can mean the bottom of the car, and ビルの裏 refers to the side
opposite the entrance whereas ビルの後ろ refers to the side opposite the place
where the speaker stands / is talking about. **Are there any general rules to
explain when 裏 means bottom, or when 裏 and 後ろ change depending on point of
view?**

Link to forum: <http://sp.okwave.jp/qa/q7795599.html>


CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-01T03:10:14.013
39598
2016-10-08T15:21:37.103
11849
question
word-choice nuances
Difference between うら and 後ろ


裏 means the opposite side of surface or ~~the field that belongs to that
aspect~~ extensionally a zone that lies in front of that aspect while 後ろ means
backward of something when objects or spaces are put in a row in order.

In other words, when the target object doesn't have linguistically
recognizable surface, 裏 doesn't make sense, and when the surface runs
vertically (and when you take the nearer object in your perspective as 前), 裏
overlaps 後ろ. When the surface runs horizontally, 裏 overlaps 上 or 下 like the
example of a car, in which 後ろ usually doesn't coincide with 裏.

In addition, 裏 usually implies the side invisible from your perspective.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-01T08:36:36.097
39603
2016-10-01T13:40:31.420
2016-10-01T13:40:31.420
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answer


裏 means "back". The opposite of 裏 is 表 which means "front".  
裏(ura): back  
表(omote): front  

裏 and 表 are used for objects that have 2 sides, one being the front, the other
being the back.  
So you can say ビルの裏, because a building usually has a front and back sides.  
But you cannot say 木の裏, since a tree doesn't have a back or front side.  

後ろ means "behind". The opposite of 後ろ is 前  
後ろ (ushiro): behind  
前 (mae): front  

You can say 木の後ろ meaning "behind the tree".  
木の前 means the space between you and the tree.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-08T15:21:37.103
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2016-10-08T15:21:37.103
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answer